Gaming terminals, such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options.
Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are most likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting of the machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Accordingly, in the competitive gaming machine industry, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to produce new types of games, or enhancements to existing games, which will attract frequent play by enhancing the entertainment value and excitement associated with the game.
In order to attract players and achieve player loyalty to different games, game designers seek to make games interesting to the player. There are therefore continual challenges to develop different attractive features to a player in wagering games.
One concept that has been successfully employed to enhance the entertainment value of a game is that of a “secondary” or “bonus” game which may be played in conjunction with a “basic” game. The bonus game may comprise any type of game, either similar to or completely different from the basic game, and is entered upon the occurrence of a selected event or outcome of the basic game. Such a bonus game produces a significantly higher level of player excitement than the basic game because it provides a greater expectation of winning than the basic game.
Another concept that has been employed is the use of a progressive game having one or more progressive jackpots. In the gaming industry, a “progressive” game involves collecting coin-in data (i.e., wager inputs) from participating gaming device(s) (e.g., slot machines), contributing a percentage of that coin-in data to the jackpot amount(s) for the one or more progressive jackpots, and awarding one or more of the progressive jackpot(s) to a player upon the occurrence of certain jackpot-triggering events. A jackpot-triggering event may occur when a “progressive winning position” is achieved at a participating gaming device. If the gaming device is a slot machine, a progressive winning position may, for example, correspond to alignment of progressive jackpot reel symbols along a certain payline. Or, the jackpot-triggering event may be a “mystery” award to a player based on a random number generator that is unrelated to the outcome of the basic game.
The initial amount of each progressive jackpot is a predetermined minimum amount, usually referred to a “reset” value. The jackpot amount, however, progressively increases as players continue to play the gaming machine without winning the progressive jackpot. Further, when several gaming machines are linked together such that several players at several gaming machines compete for the same jackpot, the jackpot progressively increases at a much faster rate, which leads to further player excitement. Many players are attracted to wagering games that have progressive jackpots that increase at a rapid rate.
In existing progressive jackpots, once the progressive jackpot is awarded to a first player, the jackpot amount is reset to the predetermined minimum amount. This predetermined minimum amount is not as attractive to other players who preferred the higher jackpot amount prior to the jackpot being triggered by the first player. Some players lose interest in the wagering game after one or more of the progressive jackpots have been awarded to other players.
Another problem that may occur when one or more of the progressive jackpots are triggered and reset to the base value relates to jurisdictional requirements. Most jurisdictions require the wagering game to have a minimum expected value (EV). The EV of the wagering game is equal to the EV of the basic game (which is typically fixed) plus the EV of the progressive game (which fluctuates based on the jackpots' award values). If the EV of the basic game is lower than the minimum jurisdictional EV, then under certain conditions (e.g., when several progressive jackpots are awarded and reset to the base reset value within a short period of time), the progressive game's EV can be reduced, causing the total EV for the wagering game to fall below the minimum jurisdictional EV.
Thus, what is needed is a wagering system that allows players to remain interested in the wagering game after the progressive jackpot has been awarded to another player. Further, what is needed is a wagering system that guarantees that the overall EV of the wagering game is at or above the minimum jurisdictional EV.